Search

In-clinic follow-up to assess completion of medical abortion is no longer a requirement according to World Health Organization guidance, provided adequate counselling is given. However, timely recognition of ongoing pregnancy, complications or incomplete abortion, which require treatment, is important. As part of a larger trial, this study aimed to establish whether women having a medical abortion could self-assess whether their abortion was complete using an automated, interactive questionnaire on their mobile phones. All 469 participants received standard abortion care and all returnees filled in a self-assessment on paper at clinic follow-up 2–3 weeks later. The 234 women allocated to receive the phone messages were also asked to do a mobile phone assessment at home ten days post-misoprostol. Completion of the mobile assessment was tracked by computer and all completed assessments, paper and mobile, were compared to providers’ assessments at clinic follow-up. Of the 226 women able to access the mobile phone assessment, 176 (78%) completed it; 161 of them (93%) reported it was easy to do so. Neither mobile nor paper self-assessments predicted all cases needing additional treatment at follow-up. Prediction of complete procedures was good; 71% of mobile assessments and 91% of paper assessments were accurate. We conclude that an interactive questionnaire assessing completion of medical abortion on mobile phones is feasible in the South African setting; however, it should be done later than day 10 and combined with an appropriate pregnancy test to accurately detect incomplete procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of mathematics competitions, and in our case the South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO), is to promote problem solving skills and strategies, to generate interest and enthusiasm for mathematics and to identify the most talented mathematical minds. SAMO is organised in two divisions--a junior and a senior division--over three rounds. We analysed the results of the junior second round over seven years, 2006-2012. Based on the literature, a mathematical content framework was developed, dividing the mathematical content into seven broad content areas. In this paper we investigate the face validity, diagnostic attributes and predictive criterion validity of mathematics olympiad question papers over the period by focussing on the frequency of content area occurrence in the different items. We also look at the performance of contestants in the different content areas as a broad diagnosis. Lastly we investigate the item performance, comparing the expected performance by the problem committee of experts setting the question papers and the actual performance of contestants. Topics such as numbers, algebra, patterns and functions, measurement, applications, modelling and logic were used abundantly whereas (quite surprisingly) there were few items on graphs, decimal fractions, spatial logic and vertices and edges of polygons, indicating that the face validity can be improved. Contestants performed best in items on algebra and weakest in items on statistics. The ability of the problem committee to anticipate student item performance varied considerably and was significantly worse in 2012 than in 2006, indicating better predictive criterion validity in 2006.

The training of highly skilled persons for the areas of Economics and Commerce requires that degree students upon entry need certain knowledge and skills in mathematics including aspects of statistics. The context is distance education and entry students seem unable to cope with the requirements of the mathematics-based topics that they need to study at the first year of tertiary education. It resulted in university staff speculating about a gap in pre-knowledge and skills. This study aims to investigate this phenomenon, starting with content and Revised Bloom's Taxonomy analyses of final year school examination papers in mathematics, comparing it with similar analyses of first-year mathematics-based module examinations in the Economic sciences. Students that passed mathematics at school are supposed to have had adequate preparation for the first level Bachelor of Commerce. Coping with routine procedures mainly upon exit from secondary education does not signal well for the subsequent training of economists and commerce students. The situation seemingly does not improve at tertiary level where there is a further emphasis on routine procedures compared to higher order thinking skills.

This paper aims to contribute to the emerging literature on capacity-building in statistics education by examining issues pertaining to the readiness of teachers in a developing country to teach basic statistical topics. The paper reflects on challenges and barriers to building statistics capacity at grass-roots level in a developing country, based in part on lessons learnt from the design of an in-service intervention for teachers in South Africa, and on illustrative data about teachers' attitudes, collected as part of this intervention. The paper reflects on implications for future design of interventions, as well as on research needs that can inform future capacity-building in statistics education in developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine South African teachers' suggestions for improving the teaching and learning of mathematics and statistics, as well as exploring relationships between certain demographic factors and the number and types of strategies suggested by teachers. The study was conducted with 75 South African mathematics teachers. We asked them to respond to closed- and open-ended questions regarding their strategies and plans about how they intend to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and statistics. The findings revealed that teachers were most concerned with improving the motivation and interest of their learners. Furthermore, there were relationships between the number and types of strategies suggested and certain factors such as attendance at workshops, and use of the curriculum.

Paying attention to the planning of lessons represents a crucial teaching task. This paper analyses teachers' framing of lesson objectives and their descriptions of how they would introduce particular mathematics topics. Connections between the objectives and the instructional strategies employed, were also studied. The study involved 75 South African mathematics teachers who were teaching Grades 4--12, in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. These teachers completed a questionnaire asking them to reflect upon and describe their teaching practices with respect to a chosen topic. The findings revealed that setting up clear lesson objectives is not easily done with only 64.0% of the participants providing clear learning objectives. The findings also showed that teachers preferred introducing the topics using teacher-centred methods. It was also found that for more than half of the teachers, there were clear connections between lesson objectives and the introduction of the topic in the classroom whereas less than a quarter of them made connections between lesson objectives and teaching and assessment strategies. Teachers, as important drivers of education, should prioritize the setting of clear objectives around which coherent lessons can be developed so that their teaching can be more effective.

What teachers teach, how they teach it and when they teach it should be guided by the curriculum. This paper focuses on teachers' reports about how they integrate the curriculum documentation in teaching mathematics and statistics concepts. Questionnaires containing both Likert scale and closed and open-ended questions were administered to 75 mathematics teachers who were teaching from Grade 4 to Grade 12 in schools in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Teachers were requested to indicate their level of the use of national curriculum statement. The findings revealed that they had little idea about how they could integrate the curriculum documentation in mathematics teaching and learning. It is encouraging that some teachers perceived links within the vertical as well as across the horizontal curriculum, both important drivers of quality education. However, it is a concern that most teachers were unable to perceive ways of working within and across the curriculum, suggesting that professional development interventions need to consider ways in which this can be addressed. A further concern is that only 60% of teachers indicated that they used the National Curriculum Statements Grades R-12. Teachers' propensity to use the curriculum was moderated by the factors of age and participation in professional development activities.

The study in this paper reports on whether an online homework system in combination with a flipped classroom has a positive effect on success rates of first year statistics students. Departing from a traditional teaching model (Baseline), the technology-based intervention strategies implemented were firstly the Aplia™ interactive online homework system (Phase 1) and then, in addition, the flipped classroom (Phase 2). In the flipped classroom model, the transfer of information took place by pre-reading and pre-class Aplia™ homework assignments. This approach intended to allow more quality time to be spent on revisiting difficult concepts and engaging in problems inside the lecture hall, thus enhancing the learning process. The average final marks of the three cohorts were compared using an ANOVA test. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate the effects of the changing teaching models from Baseline through Phase 1 to Phase 2. The success rates of three different cohorts (n = 1485, 1343 and 1466 respectively), consisting of only first-time statistics students with a Grade 12 mathematics mark of at least 60%, were assessed. For Phase 1 compared with the Baseline the increase in the success rate was insignificant, but the success rates for Phase 2 compared with both Phase 1 and Baseline improved significantly with a small to medium effect size, because of the very large samples. The practical importance of this is that the number of successful students increased by more than 100 from Phase 1 to Phase 2 and more than 130 from Baseline to Phase 2. A significant relationship was also found between the different cohorts and their mark distributions, confirming that the online homework system in combination with the flipped classroom in particular is effective in increasing the success rate.

This paper explores teachers' perceptions of their learners' proficiency in statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking. Research in Statistics education has prompted a move away from the teaching of statistical skills, towards focusing on the development of statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking. The recent South African Grade 10-12 Mathematics curriculum change reflects this move. A specific challenge for South Africa is that teachers should understand the new intended outcomes of statistics when assessing learners. The participants (n = 66) included Grade 12 Mathematics teachers (females = 40%) from a district in the Free State, South Africa, selected through convenience sampling. A quantitative research approach was used by administering a 13-item Likert scale questionnaire with the Grade 12 Mathematics teachers. The responses were summarised descriptively as frequencies and percentages. The results indicated that two in three teachers perceived their learners to obtain acceptable proficiency in statistical literacy as defined by the literature. In contrast, only one in three teachers perceived their learners usually or almost always to be proficient in statistical reasoning and statistical thinking as defined by the literature. The findings of this study showed that about half of the Mathematics teachers do not see the connection between the action words in the curriculum, and the aspects of statistical reasoning and statistical thinking to be assessed. The large percentage of teachers uncertain about the proficiency of their learners in statistical reasoning and statistical thinking leads to the conclusion that teachers need to be provided with pre-service or in-service training strengthening their Subject Matter Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge related to the key intended outcomes of statistics assessment, that is, proficiency in statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking.

Graduates with well-developed capabilities in finance are invaluable to our society and in increasing demand. Universities face the challenge of designing finance programmes to develop these capabilities and the essential knowledge that underpins them. Our research responds to this challenge by identifying threshold concepts that are central to the mastery of finance and by exploring their potential for informing curriculum design and pedagogical practices to improve student outcomes. In this paper, we report the results of an online survey of finance academics at multiple institutions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. The outcomes of our research are recommendations for threshold concepts in finance endorsed by quantitative evidence, as well as a model of the finance curriculum incorporating finance, modelling and statistics threshold concepts. In addition, we draw conclusions about the application of threshold concept theory supported by both quantitative and qualitative evidence. Our methodology and findings have general relevance to the application of threshold concept theory as a means to investigate and inform curriculum design and delivery in higher education.

Soudien (2009) states that affirmative action is not just about "inhabiting the university with people of colour; it is about appropriating the transcendence it makes possible as a consummately human and open-ended gift to humankind, and not, critically, a "white" gift". This engagement with Soudien's (2009) invitation to take up the challenge of defining what constitutes affirmative action focuses on the power of statistical indicators and indices constitution of injustice. Indexing has become a practice whereby the South African state "conducts conduct" (govern) at universities at the intersection of the desire for inclusive justice and in the wake of a pattern of performance-driven management indices that globally constitute hierarchies of quality. In the translation of constitutional demands, legislation and policy into strategic action based on performance codes and statistical indicators, desire and performance become interactively constituted as the Real. These indices trap issues around higher education institutions and their qualifications within a discourse that precludes any debate about justice and mires the development of alternative codes of justice other than targets based on "race" (as instituted by the apartheid government) and global rankings and ratings of quality. In this brief response I want to argue for the critical engagement with the constitutive power of strategic initiatives that articulate affirmative action only in terms of racially oppositional and global competitive quantitative indicators and for the continuous deliberation that allows for the imaginative exploration of subjectivity, beyond the indexed boundaries that affirm only historical inequities.

It has been found that people with disabilities remain at the margin as far as the different aspects of their lives are concerned. This paper tests the hypothesis that disability leads to lower quality of life among older adults in low and middle-income countries. The data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) was used in this study which was conducted in Ghana, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Mexico. The disability scores have been made utilising Item Response Theory, Partial Credit Model and are centered on eight functioning and health areas. Bivariate analysis, binary logistic regression and pooled regression analysis have been used to fulfil the objectives of the paper. The findings reveal that disability acts as a hindrance in attaining a high quality of life (HQOL) amongst the older adults in the above mentioned low and middle-income countries. The older adults with disability are as much as 60% less likely to enjoy an HQOL with respect to the older adults without disability. Better socio-economic development like improved health care for disabled older adults with disability enhanced living standards for both abled and disabled, efficient pension schemes for older adults with disability and effective social service schemes would be very much essential to improve overall QOL among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the fact that the road traffic crash fatality rate in South Africa is significantly higher than the global average, the characteristics and causes of road traffic crashes are still not well understood. Without a clear understanding of the characteristics and causes, intelligence-led countermeasures to reduce crashes cannot be developed or applied. The analysis of local South African road crash data is of particular importance in identifying the underlying problems responsible for the high crash rates across the country. While descriptive analyses can be used to present a snapshot of the crash problem, they are largely inadequate when it comes to throwing light on the underlying patterns and relationships between the contributing factors and causes of the crashes themselves. This paper presents a study of the use of Association Rule Analysis (ARA) on data related to crashes on the N4 between Pretoria and the Mozambican border, between 2015 and 2019, to see what added value ARA may offer to standard descriptive analyses of crash data. Apriori Association Rule algorithm was employed on the dataset to identify what contributory factors were not initially evident in the occurrence of serious and fatal crashes. ARA revealed that pedestrians, negligent driving, overtaking and single-vehicle crashes are common factors likely to be present in a serious crash. However, this study found that descriptive statistical analysis and ARA methods are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary. Where descriptive statistical analysis focuses on summarising and describing data, ARA focuses on identifying relationships and patterns within the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though a continued increase in life expectancy is a significant public health achievement, keeping older adults active and maintaining their well-being is challenging. Active aging requires physical health, mental health, functional independence, economic stability, social participation, and spiritual identification. Among all these factors, social cohesion has significant importance, but there is a dearth of studies focusing on older adults' social cohesion. Thus, the present study focuses on the level of social cohesion among older adults and its variation among the different economic classes. This article uses data from the Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa during 2007–10. Social cohesion scores have been constructed using Item Response Theory Partial Credit Model. Also, bivariate analysis, concentration curves, concentration indices, and multivariate regressions have been used for the analysis presented in this paper. This study confirms the strong predictive power of age, wealth, education, and working status of older adults on their social cohesion across the countries. Higher social non-cohesion is found among the economically poor older adults in Mexico, Russia, India, and China. In contrast, it is just opposite in the case of older adults in South Africa. Governments should develop policies to foster a society with a high level of social inclusion, social capital, and social diversity, to achieve further advancement in social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether tobacco expenditure leads to the crowding out or crowding in of different expenditure items in South Africa. We apply genetic matching to expenditure quartiles of the 2010/2011 South African Income and Expenditure Survey. Genetic matching is a more appealing approach for dealing with the endogeneity of tobacco expenditure that often plagues studies using systems of demand equations. Further, genetic matching provides transparent measures of covariate balance giving the analyst objective means of assessing match success. We find that the poorest tobacco consuming households in South Africa consistently allocate smaller budget shares towards food items than non-smoking households. Specifically, we find that dairy, fruits, nuts and oils are displaced in favour of tobacco expenditure in the two poorest quartiles. Unsurprisingly, food items are never displaced for households in the top two quartiles, given these households’ greater access to resources. Like other studies in the literature, we find that tobacco expenditure consistently crowds-in alcohol across all quartiles confirming the strong complementarities between the two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion paper delves into the current state of academic Statistics in South Africa, specifically the development of an early career academic supervisor in Statistics. The discussions held by the authors on this topic since 2020 have resulted in clear need for action by early career academics in Statistics. This discussion paper motivates a solution involving a guiding rubric for the doctoral thesis coupled with an active early career supervisor network across South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents are at increased risk of HIV infection compared to other age groups. There is an urgent need for strategic information that will inform programmes to reduce risk and vulnerability to HIV and reverse the pattern of increasing HIV infection as they transition to adulthood. This paper analysed trends and factors associated with HIV prevalence among adolescents in South Africa using the national HIV population-based household surveys conducted in 2008, 2012 and 2017. Methods: All three surveys used a multistage cross-sectional design. A trend analysis was conducted to assess the differences in HIV prevalence and covariates overtime using P-trend Chi-squared statistic. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine factors associated with HIV prevalence. Results: Overall there was a significant increase in HIV prevalence among adolescents aged 12–19 years from 3.0% (n = 2892) in 2008 to 3.2% (n = 4829) in 2012 and 4.1% (n = 3937) in 2017 (p = 0.031). The odds of being HIV positive among adolescents aged 12–19 years was significantly higher among females [AOR = 2.24; 95% CI (1.73–2.91); p < 0.001] than males, those residing in KwaZulu-Natal province [AOR = 2.01; 95% CI (1.-3.99); p = 0.027] than Northern Cape, and those who did not attend an educational institution and were unemployed [AOR = 2.66; 95% CI (1.91–3.67); p < 0.001] compared to those attending an educational institution. The odds were significantly lower among Whites [AOR = 0.29; 95% CI (0.09–0.93); p = 0.037], Coloureds [AOR = 0.21; 95% CI (0.11–0.37); p ≤ 0.001] and Indian/Asian [AOR = 0.08; 95% CI (0.02–0.34); p = 0.001] population groups than Black Africans. Conclusion: The observed increasing trend and gender disparities in HIV prevalence suggests an urgent need for age appropriate and gender specific HIV interventions tailored and targeted at identified drivers of HIV infection among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community home-based care (CHBC) is a critical component of non-formal care in communities in Africa that have a high prevalence of HIV and tuberculosis (TB). Community carers consisting primarily of volunteers are critical role players in African healthcare systems and particularly in South Africa’s strategy to fight HIV and AIDS. This paper explores the structural barriers volunteer caregivers need to overcome to provide quality CHBC. The researchers used two focus group discussions with key informants (each with four participants), and semi-structured interviews with six key informants to collect data relating to the meaning of quality CHBC. The data were coded using Tesch’s data analysis technique. A major theme that emerged from the results was “Addressing structural challenges to improve the quality of CHBC”. Subthemes underpinning this theme were: 1) lack of standardised training of volunteer caregivers; 2) the need for a scope of practice, parameters and legal boundaries; 3) lack of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of CHBC; and 4) the importance of mentoring and supervision in CHBC. CHBC policy should address the need for standardised training programmes for caregivers, so that they are equipped with multiple skills. Furthermore CHBC policy must emphasise mentoring as well as M&E to encourage quality care. Finally, the policy should provide a clear scope of practice for caregivers to regulate their competencies and boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have only just begun to understand the long-term impact of living with chronic HIV on health and livelihood after a decade of widespread access to treatment in southern Africa. This paper explores health and well-being, disability, and livelihood dynamics among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in a public healthcare setting in South Africa. We undertook a cross-sectional survey among a cohort of 1042 people on ART and explored associations between socio-demographic characteristics, treatment adherence, measures of disability (functional and activity limitations), livelihood resources (capitals) and outcomes, including food security, and exposure to livelihood shocks. A range of dynamic relationships relevant for decision-makers is evident. Age, gender, and marital status all had significant associations with levels of livelihood capitals and outcomes. Those who had been on ART for longer periods of time also had significantly higher aggregate livelihood capital. This was particularly driven by social and financial capital. Livelihoods are built within specific social and health contexts. Of particular importance is that the resources drawn on to build a livelihood differ significantly between men and women, and that different forms of disability also have gender-specific pathways in influencing livelihood and livelihood outcomes. Our results support the need for a gender-sensitive approach to supporting the well-being and livelihoods of PLHIV. Of equal importance is an approach that considers more comprehensively the new experiences of comorbidities and disabilities that may occur with a long life on ART. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper has the following aims: (i) to explore the extent to which students who received an intervention involving HIV/AIDS and sexuality perceived that their teacher cared for their health and well-being, (ii) to investigate the characteristics of students who reported to have caring teachers and (iii) to document the association between students’ perceptions of care and reported onset of sexual activity. Data were obtained from the second follow-up survey of a prospective study carried out among high school students in South Africa (Cape Town and Mankweng). We analyzed data from 3483 students who met the inclusion criteria. Students from the intervention group perceived greater care from teachers than students in the control group. Female students and students from Cape Town perceived having received more care, and their perception of care was associated with the number of lessons received, how often students expressed their opinions in class and how often teachers talked about HIV/AIDS, condoms and abstinence. Students who perceived that their teacher cared for their health and well-being were less likely to initiate sexual intercourse. This is the first paper to demonstrate the salience of the concept of care in studies of school-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper provides a guide to a short course on ethics in the work of a national statistical office. This course was first presented at the ISI session in Durban, South Africa in 2009 as one part of a three-part short course. Subsequently it was converted into a stand alone course and the related PowerPoint presentation was posted to {https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/margo/ www/govstat/integrity.htm}. This guide provides information on the structure and content of the course, discusses opportunities for its local adaptation, provides notes to the presenter covering (1) the course's duration, (2) the number of participants and organization of the room where the course is given, (3) the language of instruction, (4) further guidance on local adaptations, the desired experience and qualifications of (5) the course presenter, and (6) the course participants. A separate section of this guide offers advice on using the PowerPoint presentation in a self-study program, including guidance on using the list of readings provided. The guide concludes with a brief section arguing the importance ethics training by national statistical offices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the Albertina Sisulu Executive Leadership Programme in Health (ASELPH) in improving the competencies and performance of public healthcare managers in South Africa (SA). Design/methodology/approach: This study used a quasi-experimental study design, with pre-post assessments to assess the performance and competencies of students participating in a public health leadership programme. Students were assessed using a 360° assessment of 14 competencies and 56 performance indicators. Findings: Students improved significantly in 11 competencies and 44 performance indicators; they perceived improvements in their own performance. The assessors observed the same improvements, which confirmed performance change at the students' workplaces. The study showed the positive effect of the ASELPH Fellowship in improving the competencies and performance of public healthcare managers in SA. Originality/value: The ASELPH Fellowship enhanced the leadership competencies and the performance of South African public healthcare managers. South African public healthcare managers face significant challenges and concerns have been raised regarding the competencies of healthcare managers to deal with these challenges. This study shows that leadership programmes can improve competencies and performance of managers to have an impact on the South African healthcare system [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines why there was a reduction of almost 15% in police bribery in Limpopo province, South Africa between 2011 and 2015, compared to only a 4% reduction the country overall. Drawing on statistical analysis and in-depth qualitative fieldwork, the research shows that the reduction occurred during an unprecedented anticorruption intervention in the province that did not directly tackle police bribery. Despite this, the intervention's high visibility, along with uncertainty among the police of its mandate, was likely to have made police less willing to engage in bribery during this period. While police sector-specific characteristics (high degree of discretion, peer solidarity and contact with criminals) make fighting entrenched corruption particularly difficult, the research shows how a disruptive event can counteract these factors and how this can happen more quickly than previously anticipated. For long-term impact, however, disruption strategies likely need to be driven by strong leadership and structural changes that will continually disrupt corruption patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The meteorology of cutoff lows over South Africa is characterized by statistical analysis of daily field data in the period 1970–2023. An index is formulated by subtracting 500 hPa geopotential height in the mid-latitudes from the subtropics. Cutoff lows (COL) are identified by positive values, mostly in autumn and spring. Statistics indicate that climate forcing is seasonal: La Nina/El Nino favors COL in March–May/September–November. Hemispheric regressions reveal anomalous highs across the southern mid-latitudes when COL are frequent over South Africa. A 14-case composite was formed from the most intense daily COL events in autumn and spring. The composite shows a NW- tilted Rossby wave and jet stream loop around the COL. Maritime easterlies induce a warm east—cool west SST pattern, but composite moist inflows are shallow, so stormy weather hugs the coastal plains. Overturning circulations meet in an upper-level "saddle" over South Africa. 500 hPa sinking motions to the Southwest are of similar strength to rising motions to the Northeast. A COL case study exhibited hourly rain rates >10 mm at Port Alfred 18–20 October 2012 fed by tropical inflow. New insights emerged from this study via composite height sections over South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To begin with, Sustainable Development Goals are of tremendous importance in all areas, being seen as vital aims in all domains, which makes them indispensable when it comes to addressing the particularities of the labour market these days. Subsequently, human resources occupy a distinctive and unique position when referring to the implications derived from targeting Sustainable Development Goals, especially in the context represented by the period specific to the COVID-19 pandemic and the international events that followed immediately after that. This study investigates the work motivation of individuals, and whether they would be willing to work more hours if they are paid. Motivation and attitudes towards working more hours might be affected by several factors, and they are important contributors to business performance. Not only business performance is to be affected, but this is also a part of Sustainable Development Goals where labour market conditions and productivity concerns are addressed, along with several other factors. Using the Quarterly Labour Force Survey from 2017 to 2022 that is conducted by Statistics South Africa, this study attempts to shed light on individual preferences for working more hours in the case of South Africa. Considering the dichotomous dependent variable, a binary response model is utilised to explore the determinants of such behaviour. Findings of the probit model reveal that socio-demographic factors such as gender, marital status, education level, and work experience are important indicators to explain this preference. More precisely, being female increases the likelihood of willingness to work more hours if paid by 1.1 percentage points, and being never married increases that probability by 2.7 percentage points. Within education categories, the highest coefficient in magnitude, having tertiary education decreases the probability of willingness to work more hours by 8.2 percentage points. As an important labour market indicator, one more year to commence working increases the probability of willingness to work more hours by 0.4 percentage points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological innovations are changing the face of nursing education, with teachers being expected to integrate best teaching practices in the classroom and to ensure that nursing students are motivated and engaged. Taking into consideration students' needs is essential to provide successful integration of the technology in teaching and learning. This paper aims to explore nursing students' perceptions and expectations regarding the use of technology in nursing education. A descriptive quantitative research design was used, and the study was conducted at a selected university in South Africa. A total of 150 nursing students completed the questionnaires, with the data being analysed descriptively using SPSS version 25. The nursing students reported that educators used technology to deliver course instructions (96.7%), and encouraged students to use it for creative or critical thinking tasks (95.3%). They were encouraged by their educators to use their own technology devices (94.7%) and online platforms (94.7%). More undergraduate students perceived that nurse educators used technology at school (15.63 ± 2.54) than postgraduate students (14.41 ± 3.07) (U =1341.00, p = .044). Overall, 77.3 per cent of the nursing students expected the use of technology in teaching, mainly Moodle (88.7%), search tools (75.3%), podcasts and videocasts (66.7%), EndNote (62.7%), and Turnitin (48.7%). The majority of the students (82.1%) from the lower academic levels (first and second year) had a high expectation of the use of technology compared to 71.2 per cent of the higher levels (third and fourth year). The use of technology in teaching requires nurse educators to have adequate skills to make it a powerful tool for teaching and learning. Much more effort should be put in motivating students to use various technological tools, and ensuring that they have adequate skills, particularly at the entry level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Nearly 200m people in the world experience considerable functioning difficulties. Also, more than three-fourth of the population aged 50 years and over is suffering from some kind of disability in India, China, Ghana, Russia, Mexico and South Africa. Despite the compelling nature of this issue, evidence on socioeconomic disparity in the occurrence of disability is lacking throughout the world and particularly in the aforementioned countries. The purpose of this paper is twofold – first, to examine the socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of disability in the selected countries; and second, to investigate the cross-country differentials in the prevalence of disability by socioeconomic characteristics.Design/methodology/approach The authors use data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa during 2007–2010. Disability scores have been constructed using Item Response Theory Partial Credit Model based on eight health and functioning domains. Bivariate analysis, concentration curves, concentration indices and multivariate regressions have been used in the analysis presented in this paper.Findings The authors find that the prevalence of disability varied considerably across sociodemographic groups. Moreover, this variation is not uniform across all countries. Also, age, Sex, work status, years of schooling and economic status emerged out as significant predictors of disability among the studied countries.Originality/value This is perhaps the first study which examines the socioeconomic inequality in disability conceptualized in a comprehensive manner among older adults spread across low to upper middle income countries. The alarming level of prevalence of disability among sociodemographic disadvantage groups calls for immediate attention in terms of detailed study of risk factors, effective policy and timely intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African adolescents experience a high prevalence of violence victimization alongside the health and economic burdens of HIV/AIDS and poverty. Polyvictimization is a useful theory and framework that allows for a nuanced understanding of lived adolescent experience patterns. Polyvictimization examinations are further enriched by person-centered analytical approaches. This study used latent class analysis to differentiate a sample of South African adolescents from highly deprived communities by their polyvictimization profiles and contextual violence risk and protective factors. Adolescents were sampled twice (2010/2011; 2011/2012), and data reflected their lifetime (sexual abuse) or recent (all other forms of assessed abuse/violence) violence victimizations, as well as individual, household, and community characteristics. Model fit indices supported a seven-class model with adolescents in high, moderate, and low polyvictimization classes. Adolescents in the high polyvictimization classes experienced a heavy burden of poverty and multiple forms of violence across contexts and were distinguished by HIV/AIDS and disability. Adolescents in the low polyvictimization class experienced relatively little violence, despite living in violent communities, and low household and individual burdens of HIV/AIDS and disability. Findings emphasize the importance of considering adolescent violence through a contextually sensitive polyvictimization lens to understand the complex web of violence that adolescents experience. This work supports previous research in low-resource South African settings highlighting the interconnected nature of violence, poverty, disability, and HIV/AIDS. Future research should explore these complex violence patterns and their effects, while program and policy actions must target and prevent adolescent violence especially for those impacted by poverty, disability, and HIV/AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The socially perceived necessities or ‘consensual’ approach to defining and measuring poverty is based on an assumption that it is possible to obtain a collective view from society on the necessities for an acceptable standard of living. The enforced lack of the necessities due – typically – to lack of resources can be regarded as poverty. The validity of the approach has been questioned on a number of grounds including the argument that people's socio-economic circumstances may influence what they define as a necessity. Widespread lack of material possessions and access to services could result in these items being regarded as ‘less necessary’, which in turn could artificially deflate the definition of poverty using this approach. Informed by the adaptive preferences literature and drawing on a nationally representative South African Socially Attitudes Survey this paper explores whether there is evidence in South Africa of an association between people's patterns of possession and their definition of items as essential. Notwithstanding the fact that possession of an item is strongly associated with people's preferences, the evidence on balance suggests that widespread lack does not undermine the validity of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is limited consensus on how to define informal employment in South Africa, but in the South African and international literature the three most common ways of capturing informal employment are the enterprise, employment relationship and worker characteristics approaches. This paper reviews the methods used by Statistics South Africa to measure informal employment before and after the introduction of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, and other recently proposed methods. It then investigates the congruence, if any, between five measures of informality used in 2009. It finds that 94.7% of the self-employed are informal according to at least one definition, but only 62.6% according to all five combined. In addition, these two proportions are only 67.7% and 6.9% respectively in the case of informal employees. Econometric analysis is conducted to further investigate the differences between these measures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper recognizes that sexuality is shaped during childhood and that prevailing views on disability and the proper conduct of sexual relations within society are critical in forming the sexuality of people with disabilities. This paper reports on a research project carried out in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa that examines the viewpoints of two communities on disability in childhood and its implications for sexuality of people with disabilities. A Q methodological study was undertaken in two study areas and 6 factors from these studies are interpreted and related to the literature. The findings reveal that there is an emerging discourse of resilience and engagement in positive relationships. However, the high levels of stigma and negative attitudes toward people with disabilities limit the development of healthy sexuality. The implications of these findings for sexuality education are highlighted with an emphasis on balancing the need for protection with that of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pillay R. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2010; : 545-554 Defining a competency-based model for nursing management development will help to establish core competencies for nursing managers which will not only strengthen their practice and provide further learning and development opportunities, but will also provide the basis to focus training and professional development efforts. This paper identifies the competencies important for effective nursing management in the public and private health sectors. A total of 420 senior nursing managers in South Africa were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. Respondents had to rate the importance of 51 competency items as it pertains to effective nursing management. elf-management, ontrolling, ealth/clinical, rganizing, eople management, lanning and thical/legal competencies were found the most valuable for optimal nursing management. These findings reflect the reality of the nursing management milieu and will be useful in the design and delivery of management development programmes aimed at enhancing nursing management capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central to governance, comparison and evaluation—and evolving at the intersection of economic ideas, interests and institutions—official statistics are far from neutral artifacts in both the global north and south. This article investigates the case of South Africa. Building on primary sources and interviews, I distinguish between three periods in the history of the country's official economic statistics. This history—and the nation's statistical self-presentation—have been shaped by the legacy of apartheid, the construction of the new democratic state, the influence of international standards setters, and heated political struggles in a nation divided along racial and class lines. Although the South African case is unique in many ways, it offers valuable insights into the evolution of official statistics outside of the global north more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health promoting schools, as conceptualised by the World Health Organisation, have been developed in many countries to facilitate the health-education link. In 1994, the concept of health promoting schools was introduced in South Africa. In the process of becoming a health promoting school, it is important for schools to monitor and evaluate changes and developments taking place. The Health Promoting Schools (HPS) Monitoring Questionnaire was developed to obtain opinions of students about their school as a health promoting school. It comprises 138 questions in seven sections: sociodemographic information; General health promotion programmes; health related Skills and knowledge; Policies; Environment; Community-school links; and support Services. This paper reports on the reliability and face validity of the HPS Monitoring Questionnaire. Seven experts reviewed the questionnaire and agreed that it has satisfactory face validity. A test-retest reliability study was conducted with 83 students in three high schools in Cape Town, South Africa. The kappa-coefficients demonstrate mostly fair (j-scores between 0.21 and 0.4) to moderate (j-scores between 0.41 and 0.6) agreement between test-retest General and Environment items; poor (j-scores up to 0.2) agreement between Skills and Community test-retest items, fair agreement between Policies items, and for most of the questions focussing on Services a fair agreement was found. The study is a first effort at providing a tool that may be used to monitor and evaluate students' opinions about changes in health promoting schools. Although the HPS Monitoring Questionnaire has face validity, the results of the reliability testing were inconclusive. Further research is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Developmental stuttering is a complex and multifaceted neurodevelopmental disorder that may cause pervasive negative consequences for adults who stutter (AWS). Historically, intervention for AWS has primarily addressed speech fluency, with less focus on the covert psychosocial aspects of the disorder. The purpose of this article is to report on a feasibility trial evaluating a novel integrated intervention that combines traditional stuttering management techniques with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for AWS. Method: Twenty-nine AWS participated in the feasibility trial. All participants successfully completed a combined fluency and ACT intervention, titled the fluency and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Stuttering (fACTS) Program. As this was a feasibility study, no control group was included. Intervention was administered by two certified practicing speech-language pathologists, over eight 60- to 90-min sessions. Results: Generalized linear mixed modeling was used to determine change from pre- to post-intervention and follow-up. Significant pre- and post-intervention improvements in self-efficacy, psychosocial functioning, and psychological flexibility were observed, along with significant reductions in observable stuttering behaviors (i.e., stuttered speech frequency). Intervention gains for all variables of interest were maintained 3 and 6 months post-intervention. Conclusions: The fACTS Program was created to be a holistic and flexible intervention to promote self-efficacy beliefs and address stuttering-related psychosocial impacts and speech fluency goals of AWS. Preliminary results indicated positive improvement in all psychosocial outcomes (i.e., self-efficacy, psychosocial impact, and psychological flexibility) and observable speech fluency following completion of the program. Future clinical trials of the fACTS Program with an included control group will further investigate the mechanisms of change for the positive effects observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to determine trends in receiving quit advice from healthcare professionals among current smokers in South Africa, pre- and post-adoption of Article 14 guidelines of the WHO FCTC in 2010, and to determine the association between quit advice, e-cigarette use and quit attempt. METHODS This study was a secondary data analysis involving 2206 ever-smokers aged ≥16 years who participated in the South African Social Attitude Surveys conducted in 2007, 2010 and 2017. Data included participants' sociodemographics, tobacco, and/or e-cigarette use (for years 2010 and 2017 only), exposure to others' smoking at home and/or work or public places, quit advice, and quit attempts. Analyses included chi-squared test and logistic regression. RESULTS The mean cigarettes smoked per day, the proportions of smokers offered quit advice, planning to quit and who made a quit attempt did not change significantly between 2007 and 2017 (p=0.67, p=0.70, p=0.09 and p=0.40, respectively). However, there was a marginally significant increase in e-cigarette uptake between 2010 and 2017 (p=0.05). In a bivariate analysis, quit advice was significantly associated with making a quit attempt across all survey years. In the final multivariable-adjusted regression model, having received a quit advice (OR=1.967; 95% CI: 1.255-3.083) compared to not, and being Colored/mixed race (OR=0.467; 95% CI: 0.298-0.732) compared to self-identifying as Black African, remained independently associated with making a quit attempt. CONCLUSIONS Except for marginally increased e-cigarette use, there was no significant change in smoking or quitting behavior in South Africa post-adoption of Article 14 guidelines. The study findings highlight the importance of quit advice in promoting quitting behavior and suggest the need to scale it up in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of perinatal common mental disorders in South Africa is high, yet little is known about mental health service use among pregnant and postnatal women. This paper reports on pregnant women's patterns of use of a counselling service at a primary level obstetric facility in Cape Town, South Africa, between January 2010 and December 2011. It investigates whether these are associated with demographics, severity and risk of depressive symptoms. Participants ( N = 3311) were screened for psychological distress using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale ( EPDS) at their first antenatal visit. Risk factors for antenatal depression were assessed using a 11-item checklist. Questionnaires were self-administered, but some participants required assistance. Participants scoring positive (≥13) on the EPDS were offered referral to on-site, individual counselling, and assigned to one of three groups according to their service use: declined referral; accepted referral and attended counselling sessions; and accepted referral but defaulted all appointments. Consent to participate was received by 3437 (96.4%) participants who were offered screening, of which 627 (18.9%) screened positive on the EPDS. Of these, 363 (57.9%) attended counselling. Both bivariate analyses and regression analyses revealed that age and risk factor assessment score were associated with screening positive on the EPDS. Odds ratios ( OR) for accepting counselling were OR = 0.94 (95% CI = 0.92-0.97) for gestation, OR = 1.27 (95% CI = 1.15-1.39) for EPDS score and OR = 0.48 (95% CI = 0.23-0.99) for reporting three or more risk factors. OR for attending counselling were, for age: OR = 1.06 (95% CI = 1.00-1.12) and for reporting three or more risk factors: OR = 0.60 (95% CI = 0.37-0.97). While the majority of women with psychological distress accessed the counselling service provided, strategies to increase service use of younger pregnant women specifically are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on Kganya Motsha Adolescent Centre, an adolescent program specifically established to provide voluntary counseling and testing as well as management of HIV-positive young people in Soweto, South Africa. A retrospective cross-sectional analysis, using clinic records of young people accessing services from 2008 to 2012, was conducted. Of the 11,522 who tested, 7689 (67%) were females. The total number of HIV infections was 410, with an HIV prevalence of 3.6% (95% CI 3.2–3.9%). More females (332, 4% vs. 72, 2%;p< 0.0001) were HIV-infected than males. Of those testing HIV positive, 109 (26.5%) had a median CD4 cell count of 491 (IQR 345–686) cells/mm3. Only 12/410 individuals (2.9%) were eligible for antiretroviral treatment and 10 (2.4%) of those successfully received treatment. The program observed that young people testing HIV positive would not return for follow up blood specimens or confirmatory results. Future programs should consider innovative ways of retaining adolescents in care to reduce potential HIV transmissions that could lead to deteriorating health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims This study aimed to compare the findings of the quality of nursing doctoral education survey across seven countries and discuss the strategic directions for improving quality. Background No comparative evaluation of global quality of nursing doctoral education has been reported to date despite the rapid increase in the number of nursing doctoral programmes. Design A descriptive, cross-country, comparative design was employed. Methods Data were collected from 2007-2010 from nursing schools in seven countries: Australia, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA. An online questionnaire was used to evaluate quality of nursing doctoral education except for Japan, where a paper version was used. Korea and South Africa used e-mails quality of nursing doctoral education was evaluated using four domains: Programme, Faculty (referring to academic staff), Resource and Evaluation. Descriptive statistics, correlational and ordinal logistic regression were employed. Results A total of 105 deans/schools, 414 faculty and 1149 students/graduates participated. The perceptions of faculty and students/graduates about the quality of nursing doctoral education across the seven countries were mostly favourable on all four domains. The faculty domain score had the largest estimated coefficient for relative importance. As the overall quality level of doctoral education rose from fair to good, the resource domain showed an increased effect. Conclusions Both faculty and students/graduates groups rated the overall quality of nursing doctoral education favourably. The faculty domain had the greatest importance for quality, followed by the programme domain. However, the importance of the resource domain gained significance as the overall quality of nursing doctoral education increased, indicating the needs for more attention to resources if the quality of nursing doctoral education is to improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between socio-economic status and emotional well-being of orphans in Mangaung, South Africa. Five hundred orphans aged 7-11 years participated in the cross-sectional study between 2009 and 2012. Data was collected by trained fieldworkers, who conducted face-to-face interviews and questionnaires with the orphans, their teachers and caregivers, and the heads of the households where the orphans resided. The caregivers, children and teachers all completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in order to measure the orphans' mental health, while heads of household provided information about socio-economic indicators. STATA version 12 was used to perform multivariate data analyses to identify socio-economic factors associated with the mental health of orphans. Food security, access to medical services and a male caregiver were factors associated with better emotional well-being of orphans, whereas other variables such as household asset index and monthly household expenditure were not linked with the orphans' mental health. Two of the three variables (food security and access to medical services) associated with better emotional well-being of orphans are also government interventions to assist orphans. Further research is needed to determine whether other government programs also impact the emotional well-being of orphans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Worldwide, there is an increased reliance on casual staff in the health sector. Recent policy attention in South Africa has focused on the interrelated challenges of agency nursing and moonlighting in the health sector. Objective: This paper examines the potential health system consequences of agency nursing and moonlighting among South African nurses. Methods: During 2010, a cluster random sample of 80 hospitals was selected in four South African provinces. On the survey day, all nurses providing clinical care completed a self-administered questionnaire after giving informed consent. The questionnaire obtained information on socio-demographics, involvement in agency nursing and moonlighting, and self-reported indicators of potential health system consequences of agency nursing and moonlighting. A weighted analysis was done using STATA® 13. Results: In the survey, 40.7% of nurses reported moonlighting or working for an agency in the preceding year. Of all participants, 51.5% reported feeling too tired to work, 11.5% paid less attention to nursing work on duty, and 10.9% took sick leave when not actually sick in the preceding year. Among the moonlighters, 11.9% had taken vacation leave to do agency work or moonlighting, and 9.8% reported conflicting schedules between their primary and secondary jobs. In the bivariate analysis, moonlighting nurses were significantly more likely than non-moonlighters to take sick leave when not sick (p=0.011) and to pay less attention to nursing work on duty (p=0.035). However, in a multiple logistic regression analysis, the differences between moonlighters and non-moonlighters did not remain statistically significant after adjusting for other sociodemographic variables. Conclusion: Although moonlighting did not emerge as a statistically significant predictor, the reported health system consequences are serious. A combination of strong nursing leadership, effective management, and consultation with and buy-in from front-line nurses is needed to counteract the potential negative health system consequences of agency nursing and moonlighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how care-giving to adults and/or children and care-receiving is associated with the health and wellbeing of older people aged 50+ in rural South Africa. Data used are from a cross-sectional survey adapted from World Health Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in 2009/10 in rural South Africa. Bivariate statistics and multivariate logistical regression were used to assess the relationship between care-giving and/or care-receiving with functional disability, quality of life or emotional wellbeing, and self-rated health status, adjusted for socio-demographic factors. Sixty-three per cent of 422 older people were care-givers to at least one young adult or child; 27 per cent of older people were care-givers due to HIV-related reasons in young adults; 84 per cent of participants were care-recipients mainly from adult children, grandchildren and spouse. In logistic regressions adjusting for sex, age, marital status, education, receipt of grants, household headship, household wealth and HIV status, care-giving was statistically significantly associated with good functional ability as measured by ability to perform activities of daily living. This relationship was stronger for older people providing care-giving to adults than to children. In contrast, care-givers were less likely to report good emotional wellbeing; again the relationship was stronger for care-givers to adults than children. Simultaneous care-giving and -receiving was likewise associated with good functional ability, but about a 47 per cent lower chance of good emotional wellbeing. Participants who were HIV-infected were more likely to be in better health but less likely to be receiving care than those who were HIV-affected. Our findings suggest a strong relationship between care-giving and poor emotional wellbeing via an economic or psychological stressor pathway. Interventions that improve older people's socio-economic circumstances and reduce financial hardship as well as those that provide social support would go some way towards mitigating this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure prevalence and predictors of mobile phone access and use among adolescents in Soweto, South Africa. Design/methodology/approach – The current study was an interviewer-administered, cross-sectional survey among adolescents 14-19 years living in a hyper-endemic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) setting in South Africa. Findings – Of 830 participants; 57 per cent were female. The median age was 18 years (IQR: 17-18). Mobile phone access was high (91 per cent). Almost half of participants (42 per cent) spent more than five hours daily using their mobile phones. Two-thirds (62 per cent) had access to the internet, most (84 per cent) accessed the internet via their mobile phones. Mobile phone access was more likely amongst Sotho language speakers (aOR: 2.87, 95 per cent CI: 1.30-6.36), those living in formal housing (aOR: 3.55, 95 per cent CI: 1.97-6.42) and those who reported heterosexual orientation (aOR: 2.37, CI: 1.35-4.16). Originality/value – This study substantially contributes to the literature about mobile phones usage and patterns among school-going adolescents in Soweto, South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the correlates of inconsistent condom use with most recent sexual partner among sexually experienced youth (N= 2 138) in South Africa. A cross-sectional population based survey with youth aged 18 to 24 years was conducted in 4 provinces (Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga). More women than men (57.7% vs. 25.8%) reported inconsistent condom use with their most recent partner. Multivariate analysis indicated that for males, not having talked with a partner about condoms in the past 12 months, having 2 or more sexual partners in the past 12 months, having ever had a transactional sex partner and alcohol use before sex in the past 3 months were associated with inconsistent condom use with their most recent sexual partner. In females multivariate analysis showed that lack of self-efficacy, not having talked with a partner about condoms in the past 12 months, having ever had or been subjected to forced sex and hazardous or harmful alcohol use were found to be associated with inconsistent condom use with their most recent sexual partner in multivariate analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Algebra is a key course in the secondary mathematics curriculum. As a prerequisite for post-secondary mathematics, science and engineering courses, it is considered a gateway course. Since mathematical knowledge for teaching involves more than content knowledge algebra, teachers must be able to do more than successfully complete algebraic problems. They should understand algebra deeply and flexibly so that they are able to mediate students’ ideas, make choices about representations of content and modify curriculum materials. Yet, little is known about how certain groups view algebra and its teaching. In order to determine the beliefs held by a group of South African mathematics teachers with historically disadvantaged backgrounds teaching in schools that were previously segregated through Apartheid, this paper reports on what the group felt are the most important features of algebra. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Studies on occupational accident statistics in South Africa are few and far between, the most recent paper on the manufacturing sector was published in 1990. Accidents in South Africa are recorded in two systems: Exhaustive information is available from the insurance system under the Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner (WCC) but to access it on a timely basis is difficult. The legislative system under the Department of Labour (DOL) provides coarse but timely recordings. Interpretation is not simple however; both systems have seen changes to reporting formats and inclusion criteria over time, which hinder trend analysis. Also, the recordings of the two systems are not comparable due to major scope differences. This paper examines the relationship between the recordings in the two systems. Juxtaposing data from both systems the recordings of fatal accidents are found to be in agreement, somewhat less so for permanently disabling accidents/incidents. The paper examines if effects of the popular practice of replacing permanent workers with contract workers is visible in the WCC statistics – firm conclusions cannot be drawn however, due to data shortcomings. Data inaccuracies are reviewed and it is argued that WCC registrations may comprise industries outside the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) scheme for manufacturing. The quality of accident reporting in official publications began to deteriorate by mid-1990s. The largest problem, however, is that reporting has come to a standstill, by mid-2012 the most recent WCC statistical publication covers 1999. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper compares data from two household surveys to assess the effect of questionnaire design on estimated use of health services and analyses this across geographic areas and different groups. Deficiencies in the design of Statistics South Africa's General Household Survey led to a substantial underestimation of utilisation (capturing less than a third of visits). The South Africa Consortium for Benefit Incidence Analysis survey, which was more comprehensive, indicated that three out of four outpatient visits are to public sector facilities. Medical scheme membership is the most important predictor of using a private provider, particularly for inpatient care. Socioeconomic status and rural versus urban residence also influence overall utilisation rates and use of public versus private providers. It is critical to improve the design of routine household surveys to monitor utilisation patterns during the implementation of the proposed health system reform. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

South Africa faces the challenge of supporting the well-being of adults caring for growing numbers of AIDS-orphaned children. These adults play a critical role in responses to the epidemic, but little information exists in regard to their mental health needs. This paper reports on findings from n=1599 adults, recruited through representative household sampling, who serve as primary carers for children in Umlazi Township, an HIV-endemic community. Overall, 22% of participants were carers of AIDS-orphaned children, 11% were carers of other-orphaned children and 67% were carers of non-orphaned children. Prevalence of depression was 30.3%. Orphan carers, regardless of whether they cared for AIDS-orphaned or other-orphaned children, were significantly more likely than carers of non-orphaned children to meet the clinical threshold for depression (35.2% vs. 27.9%, p < 0.01). In multivariate logistic regressions, food insecurity and being a female carer were identified as additional risk factors for greater depression. In contrast, households with access to running water and households dependent on salaries as the main source of income were identified as protective factors for disparities in depression. Mental health interventions are urgently needed to address an increased risk for depression among all orphan carers, not just those caring for AIDS-orphaned children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]